If all you have is $50, then save up until your budget is $100. Seriously. I work at a bike shop, I handle the good and the bad every day, and I am here to tell you that if you cheap out on this, you'll just have to buy it all over again when it breaks. The good stuff doesn't really cost all that much more in absolute terms (a $50 dollar rack is twice the price of a $25 rack, sure; but it's also only $25 more. See?) but it's just so much better done. The difference is in quality of raw materials, the machine work done in the fabrication process, the care taken in assembly. There's a reason why you can buy a Joytech hub for five bucks and why the Campagnolo hubs cost forty times that. The Italian thing is a joy (overkill for your app, though, it'd be like overclocking a netbook to play HALO Black Ops), and the Joytech is good for scrap.

Buy the best you can and buy it once. Buying used good stuff is usually a better option than buying cheap new. Craigslist is your friend.

Oh, and to answer your question about the fork. You really don't need suspension to go offroad. Particularly that suspension. It's flimsy, the seals are made out of recycled wetsuits and the valving is set up for soccer moms who have to negotiate speed bumps on the bike path. It is literally worse than no suspension at all, and will go south on you at the worst possible time. It is the AOL of forks, the Windows Vista of forks. A well-designed, well-made rigid fork like the Salsa or the Surly will provide a surprising amount of compliance, and will be VASTLY more responsive, and weigh less. It also won't rob you of energy on climbs like the noodle you have. Please trust me on this.